These management bodies can only exercise the powers granted to them by the SMA 2013. They have no power under that Act to: (a) ask residents to test for COVID-19, or (b) bar a resident from his home because he is suspected of being infected with COVID-19. The SMA 2013 does not grant them medical powers of diagnosis, the power to demand testing, or the power to bar a person from his residence.
The law that deals with COVID-19 situations, the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342) (“PCIDA”), also grants no such power to management bodies. The PCIDA sets out procedures for how those suspected of having an infectious disease should be treated: humanely, with proper medical care, and within the constitutional rights of the patient.
Emergency powers do not allow this kind of behavior. Neither Article 150 of the Federal Constitution, under which the Government advised the Proclamation of Emergency, nor the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance 2021 grants any such powers to condo management bodies.
If the Minister is right, there is no further resolution on where the residents and their families will be accommodated.
Statements like these may create unnecessary panic at a troubled time like this.
Content By: Ryan Lee